Category Archives: Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | December 27, 2014 · 7:37 am

INSIGHTS 181 — WHAT’S WRONG WITH AMERICA?

All of us can find things that need improvement. But there is nothing fundamentally wrong with America that cannot be corrected by breaking the hold progressivism has on segments of our nation.

Progressivism, as an ideology, has no place in America. The very word itself was used by Mr. Saul Alinsky, a communist community organized in Chicago who wrote the book, “Rules for Radicals,” used by President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and many other left-wing university professors and very left-wing politicians. Alinsky chose the name progressive because he realized the terms socialism and communism were deeply unpopular in America.

Adherents of this ideology believe no matter what problems are facing the nation, do not try to solve them. Instead, use the issue they present to attack your opponents. Since the issue is never the issue in progressive ideology you may say anything and take any action that in the end helps secure political power. In other terms, this end, seizing power, always justifies the means. Seizing power means establishing a one-party political system run by a progressive elite.

For the first time in American history we have a president who talks and acts as if he truly wants to destroy America, past, present, and future, in order to establish a far better place for all citizens. He has said many times he intends to transform America. Believe him. He means it. I cannot think of any other reason for what he says and does what he does.

Remember, this president packed up a bust of Winston Churchill and sent it back to Great Britain during his first few days in office. Anything Churchill stood for, President Obama and his progressives are against. Not only was Churchill a British hero, many Americans from the WWII and Cold War eras also saw Churchill as a hero of the free world. That single act should have told us how deeply this president hates the Western world and its colonial past, real and imagined.

The progressives truly hate the history of America and our role as the super power. I don’t care what problem area you select, you will not find our president working to solve the problem for the good of the nation and its citizens. Take energy, the economy, the free market system, the role of the entrepreneur, anti-terrorism actions, dealings with Islamic radicalism, the Armed Forces (force levels and equipment), relations with Israel, Iran, Russia, Cuba, and our allies, and race relations in America.

We are not a racist nation. Yet President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Mayor De Blasio of New York and the black racism champions whose positions depend on throwing the race card in all directions, say we are. What kind of a White House would have Rev. Al Sharpton as their primary advisor on race issues in America? ( I write fiction but that is too far out even for a fictional story.) I don’t see how the president can be working toward national unity with the statements that come from him, Al Sharpton, Eric Holder and Mayor De Blasio. The only answer is that the president is following his ideology and using the race issue to cause chaos and anarchy in America to further the establishment of a one-party progressive government.

The progressives are masters of misdirection to control the message and the media agenda. Otherwise, why focus the nation’s attention on closing Guantanamo Bay’s detention facility for hard core terrorists or recognizing Cuba at this time? The creation of chaos on the national level by using race-based politics may be necessary before the American people might accept one-party rule. Not you, not the country, only the progressive transformation plans are benefiting from the Obama administration.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Alinsky, Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as issues, Obama, Progressives, socialism

by Barry Kelly | December 12, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 178 — INTERROGATION, THE REAL STORY

Enhanced interrogation! Torture! A rogue CIA! Illegal activities!

No matter what newspapers you read, what TV channels you listen to, or what comes to you online, these terms have been flooding the media market. The case for enhanced interrogation is a strong one unless you fear the power of the United States more than you fear Islamic terrorists who have a known track record of killing Americans. Other than the progressives of President Obama’s party, most Americans disagree with Obama’s approach to defending them from terrorism.

This blog is addressed to mainstream Americans who believe in the rule of law, the Constitution, and are proud of our history.

First, a few general observations about interrogation and the line between enhanced interrogation and torture. You can talk to those people who have been interrogated in the CIA’s program. They are alive and well either at Guantanamo or some place where they have been transferred. They are still alive and not crippled physically or mentally deranged. Many have gone back to the battlefield to try and kill more Americans and our allied supporters.

The deaths from enhanced interrogations are reported as one. On the other hand there is the drone program where the terrorists targeted are all dead, along with any friends, family or bystanders who happened to be nearby and all the intelligence they had died with them. At least one terrorist of those killed by a drone strike was an American citizen. I generally support the drone program but don’t understand the American left’s hatred of the CIA program while they accept reports of drone strikes with their morning coffee.

Very few people know anything about interrogation techniques. I do. A skilled interrogator will be successful. He or she will get the subject of interrogation to give up useful information. A skillful use of rewards and punishment (not torture) and a deep knowledge of the subject area gets results. Torture of the Inquisitio Dianne_Feinstein,_official_Senate_photo_2 n type or that used by our enemies in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam was so severe that the subjects would tell their captors anything just to stop the pain. The experience of being tortured does not make you an expert on interrogation, only on being a courageous survivor.

Now the politics of the Democratic senators’ report on terror. That is the right title for the report. Republicans on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence did not contribute to nor agree with the report’s content. It is strictly a left-wing progressive report to attack the CIA. Why was the report released now years after the program ended? Simple: After the Republicans assume control of the Senate, Senator Feinstein will lose her chairmanship position and will not be able to carry on her vendetta against the CIA by publishing a remarkably unprofessional report similar to those self-serving reports we have seen come out from our enemies. No one actually a part of or associated with the Enhanced Interrogation program was interviewed or allowed to contribute to the report.

The CIA deserves a nation’s gratitude for keeping our homeland safe.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Politics, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as CIA, feinsten, interrogation, politics, report, Senate, torture

by Barry Kelly | November 3, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 170 — Writer’s Choice

With the publication of my second non-fiction book, “Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” I will have said most of what I believe about the dangers of -ISMs, progressivism in any form without repeating the same theme. “Stepping Stones to Tyranny” has been approved by CIA in manuscript form but they still need to approve the galley proofs before I can publish the book.

“Stepping Stones” is a follow to “INSIGHTS: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought for?” with new material. Both of these books were written to explain the ‘transformation process’ to all Americans regardless of political leanings. If we get the government we deserve, as many pundits have stated, we at least should understand what we voted for.

I will still write some blogs, but fewer and not all about politics. My keyboard is now occupied with my fifth novel in the Justice series using Jack Brandon and his team to keep us safe from terrorism, both foreign and home grown. I’m having fun again. I enjoy putting my characters in dangerous positions and watching them deal with the bad guys. I know these characters so well they take over the writing, or, at least, it seems they do. I now call my novel in progress “Quiet Justice.” Of course, my editor and publisher haven’t approved my title yet.

As a parting reminder: It doesn’t matter which party increases the size of government, it is the absolutely wrong thing for a free people to do. Without big government and the high taxes necessary to support it, tyranny doesn’t have much of a chance. Deciding when government is big enough to perform its constitutional duties and when its very size presents a danger to freedom should be the decision foremost in every politician’s head. For the conservatives the danger of big government is the lynch pin in their core beliefs. Nearly everything else is negotiable.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/mystery novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Books, Intelligence & Politics, management theory, Obama, political solutions, Progressives, Terrorism

Tagged as Immigration, transformation

by Barry Kelly | October 27, 2014 · 7:35 am

INSIGHTS 168: TERRORISM AND YOU

There are only two subjects I put ahead of terrorism — freedom and the economy — and they are hard to separate. Terrorism will be with us for a long time. The “Red Army,” the Baader Mienhof gang, Black September and Abu Nidal’s PFLP (the Palestine Front for the Liberation of Palestine) never had the power and support that Islamic Radical Islam enjoys today under its various names. There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today. In nearly 50 countries they are a majority. The goal of radical Islam is not to disrupt Western nations. The goal is world domination. A world that lives under Sharia law. That includes you, your children, and grandchildren. So don’t you think you should know more about it than news media sound bites?

I have followed this subject for several decades as a CIA officer, a special assistant to President Reagan with responsibilities of being his point on terrorism and intelligence, and from the vantage point of several field assignments, including Vietnam, South Asia, and the Middle East. Much of my knowledge and experience is contained in the novels I have written. Of course, I would like to be a best-selling author but also I have knowledge I want to share with my readers. My first two novels, “Justice Beyond Law” and “Justice Without Mercy,” take the reader through the setup of terrorist cells and targets including the recruitment and training of Americans by Islamists to attack soft targets in America. The novels also show that the Obama administration’s blind reliance on “law and order” tactics cannot win the war against terrorism.

My last novel, “Run to Freedom,” contains a fictional dialogue between two KGB officers in a spy school outside Moscow discussing the tactics and strategy of terrorism. The reader gets to follow the terrorists and their opposition step by step until the conclusion. It is fiction but the operational planning on both sides is guided by real experience and nothing is beyond the realm of the possible.

I’m am now writing a fifth novel with the same characters. I now call this story “Quiet Justice.” This novel won’t be published for a few more months. It will feature ISIS terrorism activity in America.

Meeting with President Reagan, Vice President Bush, Deputy National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci and General Colin Powell in the Oval Office.

This blog is written by the author of the Jack Brandon novels. The author (pictured far right) has 27 years of government service, including two years serving President Ronald Reagan (middle left) in the 1980s as an adviser. His books can be found on Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Nook or ordered through your local book store. Visit me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/factsandfictions and follow me on Twitter @factsfictions80.

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Filed under Action thrillers, Barry Kelly, Books, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Spy novels, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | October 9, 2014 · 7:30 am

INSIGHTS 164: IF WORDS WERE BULLETS AND PROMISES BOMBS

Our president fills the airwaves with words and promises. Most of us have learned to just tune them out. He has a reputation as a good speaker but only if someone else writes the words and his technical staff puts them on a teleprompter. It would be more accurate to say he is very good at reading speeches. Words are simply a means to achieve some murky end.

The president’s words in a war environment are very different. We do not dare tune them out. People’s lives and freedoms are at stake.

This president is the least equipped to be a commander-in-chief than any president in my lifetime, which goes back to FDR’s first term. President Obama carries with him some very strange baggage. I think he believes American troops in foreign lands are and were there as occupiers. He has even referred to our troops in Iraq during the actual war as an army of occupiers. His anti-colonial distrust of American power is deeply ingrained, but not well hidden. No troops were left in Iraq because he wanted his legacy to be the president who lived up to his pre-election rhetoric to end wars, not start them. Any American forces left behind in Iraq would be interfering with the sovereignty of Iraq and be occupiers, not protectors of the peace.

As a result, we have ISIS. I gave the president credit for putting together a coalition of Islamic countries and for authorizing the air war. The no-boots-on-the-ground chant bothered me but I thought he would take advice from the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to guide the air war and when the time was right to put some troops on the ground to direct the air war and stiffen the Peshmerga and Sunni tribes to resist ISIS advances. The airstrikes did work to save Kirkuk and the huge nearby dam complex. Now ISIS commanders have adapted and the air war failed to reach the level of hundreds of strikes per day against fixed targets and targets of opportunity. Even now, outside the Kurdish city of Kobani, which ISIS is poised to capture and massacre thousands of non-believers in ISIS’s brand of Islam, the airstrikes are far to few and ineffective.

To reach Kobani with the troops and fire power necessary to push the Peshmerga out of part of their homeland, ISIS had to establish and maintain long lines of logistical support. These kinds of targets are vulnerable to air interdiction. ISIS logistical convoys of tanks and trucks have to move though miles of desolate, sparsely populated areas. There is no cover and very little need to worry about collateral damage. Yet the might of the American air power is not being used.

Civilian command over the military is a very important Constitutional precept. But that doesn’t mean political hacks in the White House should manage the war. Militarily, they are worse than incompetent, because in arrogance they believe they are right. How many books by former Cabinet officers in the Obama administration do we have to read or hear on TV before everyone realizes there is a huge difference between civilian control and civilian-hands-on-management by politicians whose primary purpose is to make the president look good? I thought we had learned our lesson in the Vietnam War when the White House acted as a command center and target selection facility outside the Pentagon. Then, as now, no high-ranking generals or admirals resigned rather than kowtow to politicians with no or very limited military credentials. It would be more honorable if, rather than write books afterward, they openly resisted bad political/military orders and resigned. Their oath is to defend America, not their careers or the political legacy of any president.

Written by the author of “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an ebook, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. If you think this message is important, please share it.